Category Archives: Corey Taylor

Hi folks. Today is June 30, 2017 and the release of a new album, by a band Who (in my opinion), is rather underrated. The band is Stone Sour and they are fronted by Corey Taylor, who also sings for the band Slipknot. The album is called Hydrograd and is there sixth studio album overall, along with two Extended play’s, an iTunes only live album and a non-album single or two. Before talking about the new album, let’s talk about the band and how it’s evolved from its initial inception to today.
First of all, let’s ask the question which came first? Slipknot or Stone Sour? The answer is Stone Sour, Who first formed in 1992 and went on its initial hiatus in 1997. This is because singer Corey Taylor joined Slipknot, with guitarist Jim Root to follow in a year or so. Slipknot released their self-titled debut album in 1999 and Iowa in 2001 on Roadrunner records. Then, they went on hiatus. While Slipknot was on their first hiatus Corey and Jim resurrected Stone Sour and released it’s self titled debut album in August 2002, with the big single being Bother (Also on Roadrunner records). This song first appeared under Kory Taylor’s name on the soundtrack to the movie Spiderman earlier that year. Then of course, the song was under the band name Stone sour and as I mentioned earlier, it became a big rock radio hit. Even as a fan of Slipknot I don’t mind the song at all because it is good to hear Kory actually singing, as opposed to just singing screaming most of the time, with clean vocals as ear candy. This band and the album show a different side to Kory, both as a vocalist and as a songwriter. With Slipknot the songs are more rooted in extreme metal, while Stone sour is more hard rock and dare I say, alternative rock. Although, I think of them more as the hard rock and heavy metal band because that’s mainly where their influences lie and I will explain that later on, when I get to talking about the two EP’s with cover songs on them.
As for the rest of the debut album, it’s good for a first album and there are stand out tracks for me. Obviously, I like Bother but the songs: Blotter, Get Inside, Take A Number, Blue Study and the spoken word track Omega are highlights of the album for me. I like the fact that the album is so diverse in that there are songs which have hints of Slipknot but, there are songs would show that Kory can actually sing and can write a decent hit song. Even Omega was a refreshing surprise in that this is a spoken word track. Both Kory and myself admire such people as Henry Rollins and during a later interview, he mentioned both him and Ani DiFranco as an influence in this track. It sure is a far cry from Slipknot! Right?
During the albums touring cycle The band made a stop in Toronto, where I met Corey at a radio station and I’ve mentioned this in a past post. All I will say is that he was very nice and we had coffee together. As for the show, it was great and the album was played in its entirety, along with a non-album track called Rules Of Evidence. This track would later show up on a special addition of the album, along with a compilation of artists on Roadrunner records.
After the tour ended both Kory and Jim went back to Slipknot to record the next album Vol. 3: The Subliminal Versus and went on tour until late 2005. Then in early 2006, Stone Sour regrouped and besides a change of drummers, they recorded the second album come What Ever May. As for the drummer change, The bands original drummer Joel Ekman left the band in the early part of the recording sessions and was replaced by Roy Mayorga, Who previously played with label mates Soul Fly, whom Corey had guested on a track of their’s in 2000 on the album Primitive. With the new drummer, they recorded the second album and it was a step up from the debut album in many ways. The songs were stronger and the album was more well-rounded, with even more twists and turns. For example: the singles: Through Glass, Sillyworld, Made Of Scars, 30/30-150 and Zzyzx Rd are all different from one another in both musical style and tempo. The track Zzyzx Rd is an emotional ballad written on piano and the track 30/30-150 is more along the lines of the heavy side of Stone Sour. The album was a real success and the tracks Through Glass and Sillyworld had a lot of airplay on rock radio, when they were released as singles. They also went on the Family Values tour with Korn as well as doing their own Canadian tour in early 2007.
After the touring cycle for this album ended they went on hiatus to make way for Slipknot, to record what became their first number one album All Hope Is Gone in 2008. In late 2009 Stone Sour got back together and put together the next album Audio Secrecy, which came out just after Labor Day 2010. To me, this would be the quintessential Stone Sour album because this is where everything came together musically and with the Alvin sequencing. The single Say You’ll Haunt Me actually rocks but has a bit of a pop sheen to it. This song certainly is the closest thing to a hit single that they released and it should’ve been bigger than it was, as well as the second single Hesitate. The trouble with that song is that it was edited and so was Say You’ll Haunt Me but, The former song did better on radio over here in North America. Unfortunately, the album didn’t do as well as it should have (in my opinion) and some people think that they stumbled. However, I don’t think so because they actually became more focused on this album, in that the songs were still diverse but there was more of a cohesion to The sequencing. The album is more consistent but it still retains somewhat of a range to it. For example: the tracks Hesitate, Miracles and Imperfect are three of the slower songs on the album but they all have a bit of an edge to them, with Imperfect being the only acoustic track not to feature drums besides the title track, which features piano.
During this albums touring cycle, things begin to become weird. At one point Roy had a stroke and thankfully, he made a full recovery. The spot was filled by such drummers as Mike Portnoy, who played drums for Avenged sevenfold and Dream Theater. Original bass player Shawn Economaki missed some shows and at the end of the touring cycle, he left the band but on good terms.
In 2012 the band went back into the studio with producer David Bottrill, who is from Dundas Ontario. He has worked with such artists as: Peter Gabriel, King Crimson, Dream Theater, Staind, God Smack, Mudvayne and Tool, to name a few. Together they gave us the double album House Of Golden Bones. The first part of House Of Golden Bones was released October 23, 2012 and the second part dropped on April 9th 2013. together, the two albums make up a concept album complete with a storyline and a graphic novel. I like both albums very much and the standout tracks for me are: A Roomer Of Skin, My Name Is Allen and The Travelers, Pt. 1 and two and the last track Last Of The Real from The first part and Black John, Stalemate, The Conflagration and The House Of Golden Bones, which of course is the title track of both albums. Once again, both albums are much more evenly sequenced and the heavier songs were released a singles such as: Absolute Zero and do Me a Favour. I wish the song Stalemate was released as a single because this song satisfies the musician in me. I like all the key changes it goes through near the end of it and the melody is good too, besides it being a great rocker.
As for who is playing bass on both albums, well… If you’re into the late 80s hair metal, the nameRachel Bolan should be familiar to you. He plays bass for the band Skid Row. They were a band fronted by Canadian singer Sebastian Bach for the first three albums. Then, he was let go and he started a solo career which he still has to this day. The new bass player for Stone Sour is Johny Chow of Fireball Ministry, Soul Fly and Cavalera Conspiracy. Both albums did well and it seemed that everything was stable within the band. However, in early 2014, guitarist Jim Root was let go and was replaced by Christian Martucci, making Corey Taylor and guitarist Josh Rand the two remaining original members, with Jim playing with Corey in Slipknot to this day.
In 2015 the band released to extended plays: Meanwhile In Burbank and Straight Outta Burbank, which consisted of entirely of covers by bands who influence them such as: Judas Priest, Kiss, Metallica, The Rolling Stones, Alice in Chains, Slayer and others. They also released a non-album single The Dark, which is a cover of a song by a band called Metal Church, which was the title track of their 1986 album of the same name. I love that version and especially since we get to hear Kory laughing with that Erie laugh, he uses for Slipknot and sometimes in Stone Sour, during heavier songs. However I like it most of all for proving that artist from today can do a good 1980s metal song justice and they have done well with it, as far as I’m concerned. There were supposed to be three covers EP’s released but it was decided to release only two of them and to keep the rest of the songs for later usage.
Now, onto the new album Hydrograd and I will go through it track by track talking about each song as best I can. Before I do that though, this album is much different from The bands pass releases in that, it is much more focused and straightahead rock, without that many musical die versions into acoustic songs or balids like which appeared in the past. The overall album sound is much more even and if you notice from album to album, that has been the main point of progression. I’ll explain that later on after talking about each song individually.
The track YSIF is an instrumental which could be another background music show opener. Both of Korey’s bands have used this technique on most, if not all of their albums to start them off. On iTunes it says that is explicit but the only word spoken in the song are “hello you bastards” at the beginning and at the end there something spoken backwards, which could sound like the word fuck is in there but I’m not sure. Anyway, it’s there and leads right into the next song.

Taipei Person / Allah Tea is a great anthemic and defiant song. That’s all I can say about it and that’s all you need to know about the song; really. It certainly is one tailor-made for live performances!

Knievel Has Landed is a great song with a really cool baseline and reminiscent of the song Digital from Audio secrecy. Also no, the base is not a synthesizer. It’s just put through some studio effects to make it sound interesting. Either way, it’s a great song.

Hydrograd is a song which I think has some slide guitar on it. It’s a little slow and lumbering but the melody is great and the guitar riff is really cool. There is also some great drum work to check out, as well as the guitar solo.

Song #3 is the first single for radio off the album and it reminds me of a song like Say You’ll Haunt Me, in that it rocks and is also quite catchy as a decent pop song. Both songs I have mentioned here should have dispelled the notion that the band can’t write a decent pop song and let’s be honest, writing such a song is not exactly the highest priority for the band. The main objective is to put out music that rocks and gets people going

Fabuless is the other lead single off the album but unlike the previous song, this is not meant for Radio as such. It’s a great song but it’s more of a fans song along the lines of Mission Statement or 30/30-150. If you notice before each album is released, there are two singles which come out: one for Radio and one which is meant for the fans or as a teaser. Every album has their first two singles but come out around the same time and for this album, it is no coincidence that Song #3 and Fabuless are right beside each other in the albums running order.

The Witness Trees is a great song in a minor key. The melody is very good and the chorus is very strong, making up for rather haunting verses.

Rose Red Violent Blue is not a dumb song, in fact it’s a really good one. What interests me is that it switches keys from vers to chorus. My guess is that it probably won’t be released as a single in the future but, I like it.

Thank God It’s Over is a Great rocker with a strong melody and Coris and a pounding drum beat.

St. Marie is a slower and quieter song and an interesting one, which sounds to me like it has a Country rock Flavor to it. However, it has a great melody and the backing vocals are superb.

Mercy is another great rocker with a strong melody and a large chorus. I love the guitar solo and the subsequent key changes which occur throughout it.

Whiplash Pants is one of the angrier songs on the album and is a traditional song, with Corey both singing and screaming on it. Check out the beginning with the distorted piano on it.

Friday Knights is an example of a song with a loud chorus and a quieter verse. It has a great riff and the melody is excellent.

Somebody Stole My Eyes is a fast song, with a crossover of influences between Metallica, Avenged Sevenfold and the standard Stone Sour heavy sound.

When the Fever Broke is the last song and the last of the two softer slower songs on the album. My guess is that it might be a single if the album charts long enough but it’s hard to say. Either way, I like it. This song is another one which also has piano in it as well as other interesting sounds, which could be synthesizers but I’m not sure.

Overall, this album is if not the perfect Stone Sour album, it’s the best they’ve done yet. Corey Taylor and company should be very proud of the work they’ve done in the studio this time and I hope that it goes straight to number one. This indeed is the new quintessential Stone Sour album and has all the elements which makes up the bands sound.
I’m sure that when they go on tour, most of this album will be played in the set list and I hope that there are more than three singles released from it.

Hi folks. This post is my pre-Christmas post in this blog, about 3 of my favourite Christmas songs. The one thing they have in common is that they are not traditional Christmas carols and are original songs written by the artists. Something else they have in common is that they are not necessarily well known by the mainstream and only to the audience of the band and or radio format they are played on.
The first song on my list is Thank God It’s Christmas by Queen, which is written by guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor. This song was released in December 1984 at the end of The Works’s album cycle and it has appeared on a couple of Queen albums since. The most recent appearance is on the 2011 Deluxe version of The Works. I had performed it in 1992, with my best friend Bob Reid at our school and it went over well.
Fairytale of New York by The Pogues is my second choice as one of my favourites. I had actually heard it for the first time, during Christmas 1995 and it didn’t really catch on with me, until some time in the last 7 years or so when I had heard it on more radio stations and recently read about the song on Wikipedia. It’s the second least known of my choices but I like it because of the dialog in the song and the fact that the woman refers to the man as “you scumbag you Magette, you cheap lousy faggot” probably referring to the man’s drunkenness.
My third choice and the least known for sure, of all three songs is x-M@$ by Corey Taylor of Slipknot and Stone Sour. It was release in 2010 as a Christmas single, with any money from sails going to charity. In the song, The protagonist is a man who hates Christmas and all that goes with it and would rather be drunk or stoned on this Yuletide holiday. There are even a few four letter words in the song and a clean version was also produced for radio and for people who would be offended.
To those who would expect a more traditional song from Corey, I say that it isn’t surprising that he wrote a song for those who hate Christmas and also, Corey plays music that is subversive and is not for the Grandma’s and Grandpa’s of the world. It’s for the younger croud of 50 and under who would get that the song is not a serious hatred of Christmas tune, from the singer. I’ve heard that Corey actually likes Christmas and I believe him. I’ve met him and despite him throwing people out of Slipknot shows and throwing water on people, who are texting during the concert, I have nothing bad to say about him. He was great to me and we had Tim Hortons coffee together and he had it black and I had a double-double.
I have other songs which I could have chosen but I will leave them for future Christmas posts. If you want to hear any of the three I have listed here, you can find all three on Youtube and I will leave that to you to look for them. Have a great Christmas and a happy and healthy 2017.

Hi folks. This is an update of a post from a year ago today, looking back on my favourite album by Slipknot, released 15 years ago today. Iowa came out as the band were touring to promote it and while the band were further emerging from the success of their first and self titled debut album. We were promised a heavier and darker album and boy… did we get it and it was good too.For me, this was a turning point in the band because of how heavy it was, both musically and vocally for singer Corey Taylor. If you have it just listen to how hard he screams on the album and then, listen to his work after that on Stone Sour and later albums by both bands. You can hear the evolution in his singing and screaming from Iowa onwards and I think he has it all down to a science.
I remember the track Heretic Song was released to Radio as a rough mix of The Heretic Anthem, in June 2001. I actually like that version better than the one we get on Iowa, because there are more sounds at the end of it and that is my favourite thing about Slipknot. They weren’t afraid to put in such sounds as groans and screams just to give the song more energy. On later albums this happens sometimes but not as often as it did on the first two. Just think who they were working with at the time, to produce both albums! After all, Ross Robinson did produced the first two albums by Korn and the debut album by Limp Bizkit, as well as Roots by Sepultura and the sound was just as wild and live as was Slipknot’s sound at the time.

I was waiting all summer for the album to come out and when Left Behind was released as the first radio single, I was okay with it. Especially considering how heavy it and other songs I would hear on the radio from it, before the album was released. The songs: People = Shit, Disasterpiece, The Heretic Anthem, The Shape, I Am Hated, Skin Ticket and New Abortion were played on metal shows that I would listen to. There weren’t many interviews about the album that I heard before it came out but it didn’t matter because I didn’t expect to hear much from the band. They didn’t talk that much and that was fine with me at the time. Now they talk about a lot of stuff from their careers and that’s OK too.

This album is also significant for me in that it was the first one ever, that I actually purchased at midnight, the day of the release. I actually went downtown to the record store and bought it then and went home and gave the CD a spin or two or more, over the past 15 years. I can’t possibly go through the album track by track, so I will talk about as many songs as I can get my teeth into .

515 opens the album, with screams and sounds from DJ Sid Wilson. His Grandfather had recently died and all the emotion from that came out in that short avant-garde track.

People = Shit opened the album with the first full song, which came at the listener hard and fast, like Death Metal and it is certainly relentless. With fast vocals and intense screams and growls the song pummeled you into submission. It became a fan favourite immediately and is one of my favorites along with the track Eyeless from the first album.

Disasterpiece is much the same but a bit slower, with a slight let up in intensity in the breakdown. There is a bit of melody coming through in the vocals this time but after a reprieve the song goes back to its original high intensity. Much like the previous track it incorporates some elements of Death Metal but I think that Thrash Metal is more what is heard in this song.

My Plague is the second single and one of the few songs with a melodic chorus. However it still is as intense as the previous tracks. The single version has a much less intense lead vocal from Corey but despite that it still retains the same ferocity. It appears on the soundtrack of resident Evil, as well as the deluxe version of Iowa and the 2012 compilation Antennas To Hell.

Everything Ends goes back somewhat, to People = Shit and Disasterpiece but has some of the melody of My Plague in it. It is missing any trace of Extreme metal in it. However, it still is as angry and intense as anything else previous to it or yet to come.

The Heretic Anthem was the first single… sort of, but it was the rough mix that came out first with the slightly different title that I mentioned earlier. When it was played it also became a fan favourite just like People = Shit and Disasterpiece. I think the main reason for this is because of the chorus: “if your five five five then I’m six six six” which Corey would have the croud respond to before going into the song, with the sampled countdown from 8 to 0. As I said earlier, I like the rough mix because there was more sound effects at the end of the track like breaking glass and screams and grunts from Corey.

Gently is also another favourite of mine because of how it is structured. It starts off quiet and haunting then it builds to a Slipknot like crescendo at the end. It had been around for a few years, ever since before Corey joined the band and it was recorded for their debut EP Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat. which came out in 1996 with original vocalist Anders Colsefani. He later stated that he had no problem with Corey taking over for him and called him a good guy. I’ve met Corey and despite what he is being known for now, (I-E) throwing fans out of Slipknot shows and dowsing people with bottles of water, who are using their smartphones at said concerts I agree.

Left Behind was the first single for radio but despite it’s melody it didn’t translate well to it. Thus, it was made a fan favourite. The strange thing about the end of the song is that it had a sound of an airplane and that was certainly scary For some people to hear that, especially after the September 11 attacks.

I can’t really say too much about: The Shape, I Am Hated, Skin Ticket, New Abortion or Metabolic because there really isn’t that much to say about those songs. All though if I had to talk about any of them, The Shape incorporates a loud quiet dynamic with the quiet verses and of course, the loud choruses. Skin Ticket does show a slower trippy side to the bands music and that later appears in songs like Iowa and Gehenna from All Hope Is Gone.

The final track Iowa is one that I can speak to because it is also a favourite of mine and I think it should have been released as a single, just to piss off some people if for no other reason then to just make them angry. It is such a long song with many ebbs and flows within it but it isn’t an easy ride through it. The song even includes back masking with the words “shit don’t look at me” being heard backwards during the second half of the song. The only reason I know what Corey is saying is that there is an iOS app called R-Player, which allows you to listen to your music backwards. I used it on my Beatles songs that had backwards singing and sounds and well… why not Slipknot?
The song has many sounds like sampled screams and evil laughs throughout. The other thing about it is that singer Corey Taylor has talked about how he recorded the vocals for it. He recorded the song While naked. He threw up all over himself and cut himself up with glass, just to bring out more intensity. Even other members of the band thought he was crazy to do this. But hay… it worked for the song and was a perfect way to end the album on a rather chilling note.
This album is my favourite and is indeed, the quintessential Slipknot album. After all, Iowa was named the greatest album of this century so far. Others are good but this one tops them all in the energy and in the musicians developments. There may not be any guitar solos on this album but there is some technicalities on this album musically. Just listen to the breakdown of My Plague and you will hear a slint of musical sophistication. Even the guitar riff for Left Behind has a degree of technicality to it. It reminds me of The Smashing Pumpkins 1996 single Zero but unlike that song, the riff goes up and down like a roller coaster. Yet, it is a relatively easy riff to play on guitar, if you listen to how it is being played. I won’t get into it here but just trust me on this.

Even the members of the band look to cull inspiration from this album for future albums with songs from All Hope Is Gone and .5, The Grey Chapter having elements from it on some songs on both albums. The track Goodby is a perfect example of how similar it and Gently are to each other in that they both start off quiet and haunting and build up to being heavy. All though in the case of Goodby, it goes into another song entirely, while Gently has a section which brings the song to its close. Even the track Gehenna from All Hope Is Gone sort of picks up where Skin Ticket left off but is much more subdued and trippy, yet still intense. Also, Corey has said that .5, The Grey Chapter would take elements from Iowa and Vol. 3, The Sabliminal Verses which they have done.

Will Slipknot ever try and perform Iowa in its entirety like other bands have performed full albums on tour? I can’t see it happening but you never can say never with them. They just might try it one night out of the blue and surprise all of us. I don’t put anything past them, even doing guest spots on animated TV shows. After all, most of the band our fathers and have offspring who are either fully grown or are still growing up. I can invision them on a Simpsons Treehouse Of Horror episode or a musical episode involving Otto, Bart or Homer. Well, I can dream… can’t I?

Well, that’s about it for todays entry. Talk to you sooner than you or I think and stay sic.

Hello and welcome to a Slipknot Tuesday. It’s my 3rd annual Slipknot post, outside of reviewing or retro reviewing one of their albums. This post is simply to comment on how one of my favourite metal bands is doing from 366 days ago. The following are my own opinions and I don’t give a shit what anybody else thinks.
Since the last post they have continued touring .5: The Gray Chapter and things seem to be going alright. It is also the 6th anniversary of the death of basest Paul Gray and if you think about it, the band hasn’t been the same since.
When Paul died there was some talk about whether Slipknot was to continue and thankfully, they have. However 3 years later, drummer Joey Jordison was fired from the band, for the bands reasons. Corey has said that they going about it the right way, in order to be able to talk about why he was kicked out of the band he co-founded, along with Paul Gray and Shawn Crahan, better known as Clown. I think that they should try to patch things up and grow up and reunite. You can’t really replace Paul Gray but Joey Jordison brings his drumming style to the table and nobody else can coppy it and make it sound like Slipknot.

Now that I’ve mentioned Joey no longer being in the band, I have changed my review of .5: The Gray Chapter too. I gave it 10 out of 10 for being a Slipknot album and now, it has dropped significantly. It sounds like Slipknot only because Corey Taylor is still the vocalist but other than that, most of the album sounds nothing like what Slipknot should sound like. For example: the song Lech sounds less metal and more punk. The track Custer sounds way too much fun to be a Slipknot song and fun is not what Slipknot is about. It is about letting out all your anger and going nuts without any regard for yourself or other people. This goes for the band and the fans and I think that has been toned down somewhat, even if it is inadvertently so.
Something else I have been thinking about for a while is the trend towards songs which have acoustic guitars or conventional song structure to them. When Slipknot released their debut album in 1999, this was not what the band was about musically. I think that the influences that have come from outside projects other members have been involved with have confused the sound and some rather uninformed fans. For example: The Devil And I was thought to sound like Corey Taylor’s other band Stone Sour and both Corey and myself agree that it doesn’t at all and is purely a Slipknot song. The difference is that there is less double kick drum in the songs Corey writes for Stone Sour then what he writes with Slipknot. The other thing is that the song is in the key of a, which is not a typical key signature for any Stone Sour song. The exception to this is the song Red City from House Of Golden Bone PT 2 but that is rare. I hope that at some point, Slipknot decides to drop the acoustic guitars and just concentrate on playing heavy, thrashing, angry and violent music. This slow trippy stuff is fine but I would rather hear stuff like Sic or Eyeless then a song like Killpop or Snuff. Not that those songs are bad, they just don’t fit into how Slipknot started and how they should stay, in my opinion. I have all their albums and I know what I’m talking about.
As for the members, well, Corey Taylor has released another book and his other band Stone Sour are continuing to release the Burbank Trilogy., I’m sure everyone else in the band has other things on the side and can go back to them, when Slipknot goes on hiatus again. As for Joey Jordison, I really hope that he and the band try to patch things up and get back together. Then maybe, we can get back to the next Slipknot album sounding more like Slipknot, the whole way through. don’t get me wrong, I like Jay Weinberg as a drummer but he is not Joey. There is a certain feel that Joey has when he is playing and it makes Slipknot sound like they have, before .5: The Gray Chapter. Jay is close and The Negative One is a great song but I would like to hear Joey playing the same beats and fills. I think he would make the song sound even more like what Slipknot should sound like and that’s that. As for Joey, I think he also has to be less of a creative force and allow more of the other people room to have their say on future material. Maybe they have but I hear too much Joey on a song like Dead Memories. It reminds me of a song like Tired And Lonely, which appeared on the Road Runner United compilation back in 2005. If you have bothe the compilation and All Hope Is Gone, just take a listen and you will understand what I’m talking about. However, I also think that Joey is a great song writer and has given us great songs like the aforementioned Dead Memories and others, which he had a hand in writing on the first 4 albums.
Well, that’s about it for this years Slipknot post, unless a new album comes out. I have heard that it may be a concept album and that is a bit worrisome because that may take Slipknot into a less metal direction and into a more arch rock for progressive rock direction. Again, not that it’s bad… It’s just not what I would like them to do. I’ve said what I would like them to do above and if they have other ideas, I’ll follow but I may not necessarily like them screwing around with their sound. Obviously it’s good to develop and expand but please don’t forget where you came from. Slipknot are a metal band, with other elements which make up the sound. They have had 3 albums under their belt, in which they have expanded on their original sound and it is time for them to go back and kick ass, on record as well as live. The only thing I hope they will do that is in any way a nodd to pop culture is to appear on The Simpsoons. for Bart. Hay, Lady GaGa did for Lisa, so why not Slipknot for the character who loves to be a pain in the ass to people who are in a position of power.

Hi folks and welcome to another Simpsons Sunday. If you watched the latest episode Paths Of Glory and you are a fan of Ozzy Ozbourne, you noticed that they used Crazy Train. It was in the seen when Bart decided to be a psychopath, since Homer and Marge thought he was becoming one anyway. I noticed the original version wasn’t used and I wonder why? They used the version on the 2002 reissue of Blizzard Of Ozz with Mike Bordin on drums and Robert Trujillo on base, who is currently with Metallica. As opposed to the original with Lee Kerslake on drums and Bob Daisley on bass. Not that it’s a bad thing but I just notice these things and wanted to point it out to anyone who may not have caught it on the first watch and listen.

This week I’m going to talk about the episode Simpsons Christmas Stories and my favourite part of it. Okay, the first and third act are my faves, just to put it out there. The second act was alright but 1 and 3 are just lol funny and I’ll explain.

In the first act (The First DohEl) Homer delivers the sermon for Reverend Lovejoy and Ned Flanders, who is supposed to be his replacement but he fainted after a Papercut. It was about how The virgin Mary and Joseph Learned that they were expecting the baby Jesus. In this case, Homer was Joseph and Marge was the Virgin Mary and Lisa was Gabriel. When they needed a room at the inn, Moe was the inn keeper. The three wise men were: principal Skinner, Dr. Hibbert and Professor Frank who came bearing gifts: gold, frankincense and myrrh, regifted by Professor Frink to the King of the Jews because “who needs myrrh? ” The two shepherds were Lenny and Carl and of course, Mr. Burns was King Herod. Oh, and Bart was the baby Jesus. If you know the real story you get the idea why characters were what they were and let’s not forget that Cheif Wiggum, Lew and Eddie were King Herod’s man. Let’s just say the sermon homer gave was successful.

Act III was basically focusing on the music of The Nutcracker and various character sang songs to the tune of some of the peaces, mostly about getting gifts for each other or forgetting to get them, in Homer’s case. If you really want to dig deep into the episode here is the link. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simpsons_Christmas_Stories

As for the first act, I like how The Simpsons make fun of such things as religion, in their own edgy yet respectful way. If you watch the episode it may seem a bit subversive to make fun of the birth of the baby Jesus but, they don’t mess with the story which is good. I think by them Simpsonizing it they make it more fun yet palatable to those who aren’t really into that sort of thing. That’s the main thing I appreciate about The Simpsons and refreshing to hear a comedic take on any type of religion and or religious stories.

On the birthday front, Singer Frank Sinatra would’ve turned 100 years old yesterday, had he lived today. Of course, we know that he died in 1988 at the age of 82 and some of his songs were used on The Simpsons. For example: the song witchcraft was used in the Season three episode BART the murderer, sung by Bart. His signature song New York New York was used at the end of the Season 9 episode The City Of New York Vs. Homer Simpson, sung by a soundalike. His son Frank Sinatra Junior is a good friend ofFamily Guy creator and Season 24 guest star Seth MacFarlane. Will the younger Sinatra or his daughter Nancy appear as guest starrs on The Simpsons one day? Well, it’s hard to say but I don’t close the door on any possibility and I’m still holding out the hope that Corey Taylor will guest star as himself or as a character.

Speaking of Corey, his birthday was on Tuesday, as well as the anniversaries of the murders of Dimebag Daryl and John Lennon. Had Lennon survived, I think maybe, just maybe he would have guest starred, along with his ex Beatles band mates. Oh, The Doors singer Jim Morrison would’ve turned 73 years old on Tuesday as well, had he lived or if he is still alive.

Well that’s about it for this Simpsons Sunday post. In the mean time, I recommend checking out Chris Ladesma’s blog. He is the Music Editor for The Simpsons and has been since day 1.http://simpsonsmusic500.wordpress.com/author/simpsonsmusic500/
Also, check out Yeardley Smith’s blog at http://gobbingoff.tumblr.com
Don’t forget about Marchez Vous, which is her women’s shoe designer company, which she started earlier in the decade. You can check out their website athttp://www.marchesvous.com
Additionally, for more news on The Simpsons, you can go to http://news.simpsonswiki.com/
You can also comment here or you can email me at blindgordie@gmail.com and I will reply as soon as I can to all messages I receive. If you follow me on Twitter or are my friend on Facebook you can comment directly to me that way too.
You can follow Simpsons Executive Producer Al Jean on Twitter and his Twitter handle is @AlJean.
He has ran the show since Season 13 and has ran it during Seasons 3 and 4.
Anyway, that is it for this weeks post. Talk to you again on Weather Wednesday.